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E60 / E61 (2004 - 2010) BMW 5-Series E60 Sedan was first seen in the Unites States in the fall of 2003 with a 2004 Model Year designation. The E61 wagon followed shortly there after. The E60/E61 5 series is now available as a 528i, 528xi, 535i, 535xi, 550i and a 535xi sports wagon! -- View the E60 Wiki

My 2010 E60 535xi lease ends June 30th. It is a great car and I am not a huge fan of the F10 so I am seriously considering buying it at the end of the lease. It will have 36K miles by lease end.

The dealer has offered buyout pricing $2600 under my stated lease residual without certification. It will likely be a little lower when another 2000 miles are added to the buyout calculation by BMW Financial.

So far the car has been trouble free.

Do I need to get it certified. Not sure what the certification would run. My guess that it is another $2500 to $3000.

I can get an extended warranty for about $3,000 (likely non BMW which would provide more coverage).

If I choose to not certify or buy an extended warranty, I could keep the $3K in the bank and pay for repairs as needed (after the factory 4yr /50K warranty expires).

Depends on your comfort level. I did not buy extended warranty, manage my own maintenance and repairs. So far so good, but i have excellent help. A BMW service tech who moonlights for me, and an indie shop that has the Autologic diagnostic computer and specializes in BMWs.

Bought my car off lease. BMW Financial resid was $36K+, dealer price was under $32K. Check with several dealers in the area to make sure you are getting the best price. Talk to the SALES people and NOT BMW Financial or the FINANCE staff. You should be able to buy the car for ~10% over AUCTION price.

Now sure why you'd pay to get the car CPO'd unless you want their 2 yr/100K warranty.

I bought my extended warranty @43K miles 1 month before the 4 yr factory warranty expired, giving me an ADDITIONAL 5 years (107 months!) or a TOTAL of 100K mile warranty. I went through my credit Union to purchase a Route 66 $0 deductible plan for ~$2400 with tax. Have not had any cliams yet. You should know thay they require oil changes at least every 6 months or 6K miles and did not care that I used synthetic or that this exceeeded BMW specs. Not a deal breaker for me since I usually change at 7500 or 12months anyway.

Agree above. Anytime you are buying a car check auction price, ebay and autotrader. you should always check year less and you year and year up, to see depreciation on car.

Your best price around auction price, but it's hard to find unless you are ready to wait and it will pop up at some dealer in US. It's big difference in price in terms of option, but its difference in what kind motor there. Warranties for car; you can shop around, because CPO doesn't cover a lot stuff. I will recommend looking at your local credit union, or if you have friend who is running small dealer, they have a good warranties. Be ready to pay for 36/36000 around $3500-$4200, but this should cover all components even suspension.

The last BMW I owned was in 1981! Afterwards, I have repeatedly leased every three years. But I really like our 2010 535xi and believe it is a keeper. And the 2012 F10 is just not doing it for me.

Assuming I do buy our leased car, after the factory warranty expires, I will need to find a qualified BMW Indy. That will be a topic of a new thread.

Is there a place where I can find out auction values? There was a time when you could get a forum member to quote the latest manheim numbers but I have not seen that recently.

The two dealers I visited tacked on $1000 to the dealership's buyout price to sell it to me. And on top of that is the doc fees which range in NJ from $295 to $400. So their markup is even more. Hoping to find a lower markup but it might not be that realistic.

I'd say if you can get the certification for $2000 or so (and the buy out is acceptable) run with it. The certification process should fix anything that doesn't meet the minimum inspection requirements (which could save you some cash straight away.)

Other things to take into consideration (This is what I have learned from my brother, the BMW tech, just before buying my cpo: ) 535 turbos occasionally need to be replaced (some more than others,) as well as the carbon build up problem, as well as suspension problems, and so on.

If you're planning on driving that e60 for another 50k, you might as well pony up the cash to have the security of knowing you'll be covered in the event of a big expense that's common with these cars.... I know that's what I'd do. just my 2 cents.